


Rise to the Top

by JustChuggingAlong



Series: The Ego Realm [5]
Category: Markiplier Egos, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Basically every single Markiplier ego is mentioned, Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Serious Injuries, and random encounters, attempted stabbings, lot of mention of power and strength, politics of sorts, so are the septic egos, so the one stagged are the main ones, the sanders sides are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 10:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18071273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustChuggingAlong/pseuds/JustChuggingAlong
Summary: The Ipliers are easily the most powerful group in the realm. But it wasn't always this way. It takes some time to rise to the top.





	1. Big Things

When Dark woke up in this strange realm, he was weak. He had no power. Not at first. He found himself wandering for months. At the time, the realm was almost barren. Empty flatlands covering most of it, and dense forest on the eastern and northern edge. Ocean surrounded the continent on all sides, and if he squinted enough, he thought he could see the shape of a landmass on the other side.

Although terribly weak at first, he could feel his power building. He was drawing it from something, but he wasn’t entirely sure what that was yet. He did run into others sometimes, but they were hardly worth his time. Often they were in similar or worse shape than him, and he never stuck around too long. They’d just hold him back, after all.

After several months of his aimless wandering, he found someone of interest. William. Or rather Wilford Warfstache, as he went by. Wilford didn’t recognise him, not at first. At least, not as Damien. He seemed distant and clueless. He was carrying filming equipment and a notepad, and he insisted on giving Dark an interview. “Why, you’re Darkiplier! The evil side of the handsome and famous YouTuber Markiplier!”

Hearing that name again after so many years, Dark felt like he’d just been slapped in the face. And the way Wilford had said it, almost like he was praising the man. Plus, Dark had never heard that term YouTuber before. He’d hidden himself away for almost a century before he found himself here, so he never had the chance to catch up on the changing times.

It took him awhile to figure out what exactly that meant.

Over time, more characters began to appear. Not just characters like Dark or Wilford, but others. They looked different, talked different. With them came technology, and the realm began to grow. Dark and Wilford stuck together during the changes, and they managed to snag a building on the edge of the forest. It was little more than a shack, but it would work for now.

During that time Dark found this YouTube and found out who exactly Markiplier was and what he meant to him and Wilford. Dark managed to find where he had come from and why he was here, in this realm, instead of back in the real world. He found out where his power was coming from, and why over time he had gradually grown in strength. It was attention, from Mark’s fans. With every creepy video, or small mention, he grew in power. With every art made, or story written, he grew in power.

Only a month or so after Dark found Wilford for the first time, they ran into the King of the Squirrels. An odd man who spent all his time hiding in the forest talking to squirrels and lathering peanut butter across his face. Dark had approached him and tried to talk to him, but the man took off running before Dark could get even a single word in. He lived out in the woods without shelter and survived off the earth, and Dark rarely saw him after that.

The Author appeared only weeks after the King. He had a cabin in the woods and spent all his time writing these ‘stories,’ using strange figments as his characters. Dark wasn’t sure what to call them. They were a lot like the rest of the characters in the realm, except they were completely powerless and when they died, they stayed dead. The residents of the realm had recently discovered that if one of them died, they reappeared. It was Dark, though, who drew the connection to their popularity. They couldn’t die as long as they were alive in the eyes of the fans.

The Author fascinated Dark. He obviously had power, the ability to change the world around him with just a couple words. So Dark made an effort to befriend the Author. He knew this would be a powerful ally to get on his side. Most of the time, Author remained unfriendly and withdrawn. He preferred to be on his own, writing his stories, only interacting with his characters and using them for his own amusement.

Dr. Iplier was the first one after Author. Dark didn’t even look his way. What use was a doctor in a world where death didn’t exist? However, he proved his usefulness. The year after he showed up, Author had his accident. His characters rebelled and left him for dead, and he had lost his eyes. King had found him in his cabin, and even though the Author had been awful to him, he brought him to Dr. Iplier. The Doctor worked hard to help Author and never once did he complain. He usually had a loud mouth and no filter, but he understood immediately the severity of the situation.

After that incident, Dark had gained a sort of respect for Dr. Iplier. He still rarely talked to him, and couldn’t really stand him, but he had ideas about the doctor’s usefulness. The Author changed after that, too. He became much more mild mannered, and went by the Host instead. “The Host has discovered his powers are to narrate events rather than make them happen.”

For years and years more characters started showing up. They all had the same face, and Dark watched the all videos where they all came from. All of them were from Mark’s channel, or in a video Mark had appeared in. That’s what should’ve drawn them together, but nobody bothered. None of them were very strong, and besides pairing up like Dark and Wilford had, they were almost always on their own. Wandering the realm like Dark had all those years ago.

There was Silver Shepherd, a superhero Dark never bothered with. Google IRL, a human-hating robot who Dark managed got on the good side of. Bim Trimmer, a flashy game show host who consistently killed his contestants on camera. Ed Edgar, a sleazy businessman who sold babies. Yandereplier, a Japanese schoolboy who was obsessed with his ‘senpai,’ and murdered other students without regret.

Darking was getting much stronger during this time. He was incredibly popular among fans even though he hadn’t really officially appeared in a video. He was just Mark being creepy, really. The horror-esque videos that popped up around Halloween time. But they ate it up. Fans were always drawn to edginess, so that appeared to be Dark’s strength. After some time as they grew, Wilford and Dark destroyed their shack and begin to build up a larger house from its fragments.

The rest of the realm was doing similar. As more characters popped up, so did houses, shops, parks, studios. As Dark grew in strength so did everyone else. The realm grew with YouTube and with their creators. About three years after Dark first woke up, Mark’s friend Sean’s first character appeared, a superhero, and more just came after that. About a year after that the strange new group that was Sanders Sides appeared along with a palace on the edge of the forest.

Then everything changed for Dark. It was 2017, Valentine’s Day. The day you’d least expect to hold something sinister. Mark uploaded his video series, a Date With Markiplier. A cool idea, and a fun thing for fans to do, to explore the different endings. But one such ending was a little different than the others.

Dark didn’t even know about this chocolate ending at first. The fans had discovered it and immediately everyone went wild. Talking about Darkiplier. Before that he had been fairly popular, but only as an idea. Wilford was the only one who really had much strength, as the mascot and face of Mark’s channel. Dark wasn’t expecting this sudden overload of power, and after some investigation, he figured out what exactly it was.

He began to collect the other characters. He and Wilford went on a small adventure around the realm. They first tracked down the Host and Dr. Iplier, who both didn’t need much convincing. Their skills were a lot more useful in a group than on their own. Next they found Google, who was hesitant but his respect for Dark eventually won over. Yandere was quick to convince, as soon as Dark mentioned access to weapons and information.

Dark managed to dazzle Bim with thoughts of fame and power. He told Ed that when they became powerful and well known, he’d make more money than ever. Shepherd gave himsome trouble, but as soon as the hero mentioned his interest in acting, Wilford swooped in with an offer for a spot in a show. King almost bolted as always, but Dark negotiated with him an extensive border for his kingdom and access to peanut butter and any other food a squirrel might need. If Dark had known how easy it was to get these people on his side, he would have done this sooner.

Of course, not every character agreed. Mark had played parts in other channels where his characters were slightly disconnected from him and closer to others. Dark had trouble with the Marks of Random Encounters. The one from Resident Enis refused to leave behind Dodger and Enis and threatened to stab Dark. The one from FNAF the Musical insisted on sticking to himself and his animatronic buddies. He also spoke to the leader of the Cool Patrol, from Ninja Sex Party's video, but he didn’t seem to care less. Bill from Geek & Sundry's Werewolves video didn't even bother to listen.

The crew reached what would be the site of their base of operations. All it was right now was the small house that Wilford and Dark had built together and lived in together for years. After all the memories of the place, you’d think they’d be hesitant to bring it down, but after one look at each other, they blasted it to bits. Who cares about the past, now? This was a new start for all of them.

They all worked together to recreate the land. They built a large building for housing first. For many of them, it was their first real home. Next they created the office building. There were meeting rooms for whenever needed, and every ego had their own separate space for work. Google made himself a workshop. Host got a library. Bim and Wilford built up their studio.

When they were done, magic was placed over the whole compound to form a sort of barrier, and to shift the buildings to the needs of the residents. Wilford and King worked together to place a border around King’s kingdom, in order to keep out the monsters and keep his subjects safe.

Once they were done, they all stood back to admire their work. They all knew this was only the start. Big things were waiting for them.


	2. Something out of Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ipliers grow powerful

Mark had known about the egos for a while. He first discovered them soon after Ed Edgar was created. It was a mistake, mostly. Dark and Wilford hadn’t even known about the portal until Mark came stumbling through a door that hadn’t been there before. Their house had some magical properties, but for an entire portal to appear in the wall was not part of a plan.

When Mark found a mysterious door in his office that he’d never seen before, he knew something was up. What he was not expecting was to come face to face with the fictional characters he plays. Wilford was exactly as he’d appeared. Pink bow tie, suspenders, that famed pink mustache. But he didn’t know what to take of Dark.

The ego seemed to be flickering and he looked almost translucent. Shadows wrapped around him and his eyes were black pits, that seemed to switch to red occasionally. His face was emotionless but occasionally it seemed to glitch into a creepy grin or a pained expression. He skin was grey, and blue and red light flickered around him, giving him a strange effect. A ringing seemed to be filling the room, accompanied by what sounded like creaking.

Dark barely interacted with him, but Wilford was quick to rush him off to his studio for an ‘interview.’ It went as well as you’d expect. Wilford got frustrated and Mark almost got stabbed, Luckily, he managed to avoid Wilford’s attacks and had bolted out of the studio, chased down by the journalist. It was then he ran into Silver Shepherd, who was quick to help.

Mark made it back to his own world fine, if absolutely terrified and his heart beating at about a thousand times a minute. But it gave him an idea. If he could work with these characters without them killing him, he can make amazing things.

After that, Mark and the egos got into contact more. Some more than others, and he had to learn how to avoid their wrath, but things had started to evolve from there. After A Date With Markiplier, he began to get even more involved. Which is why he accepted Wilford’s Markiplier TV pitch.

The others egos didn’t think much of the idea. It seemed useless to them, a waste of time. Most of them were just concerned with how they were presented in it. Wilford, dissatisfied with their opinions, went directly to Mark. He took the idea almost immediately. However, it was his own idea to get the others to participate. Most of them had been adverse at first because they didn’t show up once, so how did it help them? But if Mark got them some screen time at the end, they’d gain attention and as a result grow more powerful. They were all quick to agree.

Not only did it successfully bring the spotlight to some of the lesser known egos, but it also literally murdered the Septiplier ship and created two new egos. The Jims. Seeing them jogged some memories in Dark from a very long time ago. He remembered running into twins, each named Jim and a part of a Jim News. He thought maybe that like Dark and Wilford, these two had lived in the real world before finding themselves in the Ego Realm. But no, that wasn’t the case. The two Dark had seen had been a field reporter and a cameraman, but the ones who had taken residence on the Iplier compound were a newscaster and a weatherman. 

That wasn’t the end of it, of course. The same month Mark learned about Google’s desperately needed upgrade, and so roped him into a project. Google Gets an Upgrade. After that video, they were graced with the frustrating presence of Bingiplier. They also had three new Google bots join the crew. Red, Green, and Yellow, who that day began to go by Oliver, due to a typo Mark had made. The fans gave the Oliver name to the yellow android and mark was quick to jump in on it.

A couple months later, Mark went up to Dark. The creator rarely talks to Dark directly, but it’s necessary if he wants him in projects. He talked to him about a backstory, and after back and forth discussion between Mark and his friends, with input from Dark, Who Killed Markiplier was created.

The four videos weren’t exactly what had happened, of course. Details grow foggy and some things are best left secret. But it was close, especially compared to the original idea of the video series which wasn’t even meant to be a backstory for the two.

Their popularity, and as a result their strength, skyrocketed. The realm was plunged into mild chaos for several weeks, a common thing whenever something big happens and as a result power and influence shifts. Wilford is slightly too out of it to truly understand what was happening, but he reveled in the boost just as much as Dark did.

Two more egos joined their cause after that, as well. The other two Jims Dark had been expecting for quite a while. Based on what they told, in fragmented half-sentences and illegible rambling, they’d been in the real world their entire lives, before both being killed in the field. But then they had woken up in the ego realm, uninjured and better than ever. 

Of course, things continued to climb from there for the year following. They had competition, of course. The Septics were incredibly strong, as a result and their creator also running projects. Anti had appeared in Kill Jacksepticeye, successfully stopping Dr. Schneeplestein from trying to save Jack. He reappeared again that Halloween, bringing along a young new ego Jameson Jackson. Endless hints began to be pumped out, voice clips from Chase, appearances from Anti, Schneeplestein reclaiming his chair.

The Sanders Sides were as present as always, of course. They appeared more recently, but had risen up with lightning speed. The sudden and unexpected appearance of Deceit in early 2018 sent fans screaming. The first appearance of Sleep in Thomas’s short videos had fans quickly adopting the character and even giving him the name Remy. Dr. Emile Picani in the popular Cartoon Therapy series was accepted in a snap. These additions upped the Sides’ manpower.

Competition was always present and it was hard to keep the peace between the groups. Many characters were quick to anger and quick to violence. Or perhaps that was only the Ipliers, but having allies in the other groups was incredibly important. Dark spends a lot of time maintaining relations, although it can get impossible with all the trouble the other Ipliers get up to.

The Ipliers got even more egos near the end of the year, during Mark’s charity livestream. Eric Derekson, an incredibly anxious ego with a huge love for animals. Derek Derekson, his less than pleasant dad who was quickly cast aside. Randall Voorhees, a strange, loud man from New York who was probably the only one who enjoyed selling the charity merch. These additions created an influx of fan support, since everyone dove to accept poor anxious Eric and cool man Randall.

The Ipliers were on the top, and better than ever. Sometimes, Dark will just look out his office window over the compound, and just look at everything he had created. He wasn’t always happy, and he could hardly stand most of the other egos, but he did feel a sense of pride. After all, _he _had done this. He had brought together the Ipliers and formed something out of nothing. And sometimes Wilford was with him, so he'd look over at the man and think that maybe Wilford helped too.__

__Maybe he could admit it was a team effort._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it's not very important but I had fun figuring out how to make early, pre adwm Darkiplier. Originally I was going to make him the popular red hair, creepy grin, evil laugh sort of vibe. But then I remembered that that came later, and I should be looking for 2015 or before. So I sort of combined early Darkiplier fanart, old creepy videos like Don't Blink/Don't Move, and current Dark, because it's still Dark.


End file.
